IBM to Give Away 500 Patents

Big Blue continues to amaze! It seems that IBM has opted to donate some 500 patents to the Open Source movement in response to their rivals. Seen by closed source companies like Microsoft as a move to undermine the corporate way of life, IBM scoffs at this and then moves for others to follow their lead. IBM is not hardware anymore folks. They are moving way beyond this…

U.S. patent leader IBM said late on Monday it plans to donate 500 patents for free use by software developers, marking a major shift of intellectual property strategy for the world’s top computer maker and a challenge to the high-tech industry.

Jim Stallings, IBM’s vice president in charge of intellectual property, said in an interview that the move was meant to encourage other companies to unlock patent portfolios in order to spur technological innovation.

“This represents by far the largest pledge of patents in U.S. history,” IBM said in a statement to be issued on Tuesday. “You can use them and grow and innovate (and)…to build something new,” Stallings said in remarks aimed at developers.

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